THE CAUSE OF PHYSIOLOGIC BASAL TEMPERATURE CHANGES IN WOMEN*

Abstract

THE clinical application of basal temperature changes in the study of ovarian function has met with wide acceptance since the publications of Tompkins (1), Davis (2) and others (3, 4, 5). This simple physiologic phenomenon has provided a much-needed tool for the interpretation of normal and abnormal ovarian activity. The mechanism for these temperature fluctuations has not been elucidated. The following observations were carried out in an attempt to throw additional light on this subject. In the past three years well over 1000 temperature graphs have accumulated in the study of sterility and other endocrine disorders, as well as in a large group of normal individuals who were used as controls. These graphs have been prepared by the patients themselves after careful instructions on how to keep a basal temperature record. Oral temperatures have been used throughout, since it has been demonstrated that the pattern is similar to rectal temperatures and that the latter provide no greater degree of accuracy. Most patients have obtained readings over a period of three or four months but many have kept a continuous graph for a year or longer.